DISCLAIMER: I own nothing! Nada, zip, zilch! Everything Harry Potter belongs to Missus J. K. Rowling. If it were mine, then I would own my house .

A/N: The following takes during OotP. Slightly AU, because I refuse to accept that Sirius Black was killed by the drapes. More AU, because of all of the past, present, and future characters. It started as a one-shot, I swear. But well, when wheels in my head start churning, they're pretty darn hard to stop.

Past, Present & Future

Prologue

THE NIGHT AIR was warm, and there was a moist weight to it, which gave Ginny the sensation of walking through a living wall. It was late June, and the chirping of crickets composed the sound track of the evening. She stood slightly to one side of her family, removing herself from their chaos; she had become quite good at this. Their constant noise, which she generally loved, sometimes wore thin on her nerves. Her father and mother stood at the beginning of a sidewalk, which appeared to lead right up to the wall of the massive housing complex in front of them. They were talking in hushed tones to one another; Molly held a white-knuckled death-grip on the back of Arthur's robes. Ginny studied her parents - - who were clearly waiting for something - - for a moment, before turning her attention to the half of her brothers that had made this trip into London. Fred, George, and Ron were the last of her brothers' still living at the Burrow, which was why there were here. The previous night, her father had called for everyone's attention after dinner. He had told them that they were no longer safe at their home, not since last summer, when Voldemort had finally come back into power. Her brothers had not reacted well to being told that they had to flee from their home; the Burrow was considered a safe-haven to the Weasley children. If it was not safe, then where in the bloody hell was?

Ginny rolled her eyes, a small smile playing across her lips, as she watched her twin brothers talk Ron into trying their newest concoction, a Canary Crème. Instantly, the lanky red haired teen transformed into a large, squawking yellow bird. This of course attracted their mother's attention - - which was never a good thing, in this type of situation. Ginny shook her head, watching as her mother changed Ron back - -

"Really Ronald, you would think that by this point in time, you could sense one of your brother's pranks from a mile away. But no! Merlin's beard, no! Can't the three of you behave for just a moment? You're antics are wearing terribly thin on your poor old mother's heart, you know!"

- - and swatted them all 'round the back of their heads. As her mother went to stand back at her place her father's side, a small sound caught Ginny's attention. She stood on tip-toes to look over her mother's shoulder, and saw that a small bit of parchment had appeared in her father's hand. Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. Headquarters of the Order of the phoenix, the paper said. The writing was an elegant, rich scrawl, which she recognized immediately, but was unable to place. Another noise, and suddenly the building before the family began moving. Out and out, up and up; the apartments had split clear down their middle, and where there had previously been nothing but a wall, there now stood a dark and regal house. It seemed to shudder, as the transformation ended. Ginny's eyes followed its surface all the way up - - the Victorian style house was at least three stories, probably even more, judging by the smaller rows of slender windows near the ground and roof. Due to the late hour of the night, it was impossible to tell exactly what color Grimmauld Place was, but to Ginny's eye it looked like a deep, murky green. She glanced nervously at her mother, and saw that the woman's eyes were wide. Whether it be from fear or surprise, her daughter wasn't sure.

"Mum, where are we…?" The older woman shook her head, finally out of her slight daze. "Not now dear, it isn't safe out here." As she spoke, Arthur walked up to the stoop, and lifted the large knocker. A moment later, the door swung open, and the unmistakable face of Sirius Black appeared. Ginny's eyes widened, as she looked at her brothers. The twins looked shocked, and vaguely ill, but Ron's face was strangely blank. Odd, Ginny thought, Ron is not surprised. Her eyes traveled back up to the man's face, and with a jolt she realized that he was looking straight at her. She watched, as her parents both entered the house. The man remained where he was standing, still holding the door open. Ron seemed to realize this at the same time as she did, because they walked to the door simultaneously. They stood on the step for an awkward moment, each refusing to let the other go in before them. Ginny, who had always excelled at playing dirty, finally won. A swift kick aimed at her slightly older brother's shin, and she was walking through the still-open door. She smiled politely at the dark haired man as she passed him, and he returned it with an amused grin. Strange, was Ginny's confused thought, he doesn't really look like the mass-murdering type.

xxXxx

THREE WEEKS HAD passed, since the Weasley's had first come to reside at Grimmauld Place. The house, which was intimidating on the outside, was positively frightening on the inside. Angry portraits, coupled with beheaded house elf's, ornamented the many dark walls of what Ginny had come to learn was the Ancient, and Most Noble House of Black. The cherry floors, which she had spent the first week alone scrubbing on hands and knees, were stained with a dark and shiny varnish, giving the appearance of walking on blood - - when they were clean, of course. The house was indeed three stories, boasting also of a double basement - -

"Completely untouchable," Sirius had warned her and her mischievous twin brothers. "Once, when I was younger than any of you - -"

"Even Gin Bug?" Fred interrupted, with a mocking grin. "Gin's a baby, mate! There's no way anyone was ever as young as she!"

"Quite right, brother dear! Gin-Gin's the smallest of the small; no one has ever been smaller!"

"You're both git's, do'ya know that? Utterly pathetic, gits!" Ginny felt her face flush, to her complete mortification. She glanced at Sirius, and saw that he wore a strange expression on his face.

- - located beneath the already basement kitchen, and also an attic, which apparently housed the AWOL Hippogriff that had been sentenced to death during her second year, Buckbeak. Since coming to the house, Ginny had become a constant recruit for her mother's cleaning madness. During the past few weeks, she had scrubbed, mopped, waxed, washed, and de-loused every inch of the massive house, most of it twice over. But clean was never really clean enough for Molly Weasley, and there was always another Boggart in another closet that needed removed, or else more dishes in the sink to be washed. In retrospect, the entire situation reminded Ginny of a muggle story that Hermione had once told her about, Cinderella. Except this was not a muggle fairytale, because no one at the Order Headquarters were muggles. Also, Ginny did not have an evil stepmother, only an obsessively clean legitimate one. So she worked, and scrubbed, and cooked, and cleaned; days had begun to drag on forever, and her fourth year felt like a lifetime away.

xxXxx

"Pass the butter, please."

Ginny grabbed the glass dish next to her, and passed it to Sirius. He sat next to her, at the head of the table. It was Friday night; the house was eerily quiet. Her mother and father were off doing classified business for the Order, which left her and Sirius alone. Aside for her brothers, of course.

"George! Knock it off, will ya?" Ron scowled at the offending sibling, who had charmed his dinner plate to catapult peas at Ron's face.

"Knock what off brother? T'was Fred who was doing the launching, mate." George grinned, and gestured to his twin. The other boy pulled an innocent face, and tried to act uninterested.

"I am the innocent one here George old boy, admit it!"

Ron continued to fall victim to the twin's pranks, until Sirius finally suggested that the three go check on the Hippogriff in the attic. As he said this, the three red haired boys gaped at him as though he were insane.

"What? Beakey bloody well needs to eat too, ya know."

"But that's ickle little Ginny's job!"

Sirius looked from the indignant Ron, to the girl sitting next to him. Ginny frowned at her brother, and crossed her arms beneath her chest. Ron squirmed, as he felt her level her gaze on him.

"Ronald, go feed the damned Hippogriff, before I shove my dinner plate so far up your arse that you'll be tasting broiled chicken until you're of age."

The boy's eyes widened; behind him, their brothers were threatening to fall over from laughter. Sirius's last drink off of his bottle of Firewhisky had apparently gotten lodged in his throat; he coughed, hiding a wide smile behind his napkin.

"C'mon ickle Rinnikins; there's a hungry bird waiting for ya somewhere above."

The twins each laced an arm through one of their younger brother's, as they began leading the now sputtering boy out of the kitchen. Ginny and Sirius both laughed, as the twins forcefully led Ron out of the kitchen. As they finally hauled him through the doorway, Fred popped his head back around the corner,

"Oh, and mates, as far as anyone is concerned, Gorge and I are helping ickle Ronnie out in the attic."

"Yes," George called from somewhere on the stairs. "Attic...not in our room, testing out new Weasley products."

"Agreed?" Fred raised eyebrows at his sister, and the man sitting next to her. They both nodded, and he turned with a triumphant smile on his face, and left the room.

After a moment, Ginny's laughter died, and Sirius's chuckle turned dry in his throat. Silence stretched between them, and Ginny was suddenly aware of herself. The only noise in the room was forks scraping against plates, and the occasional dull 'thunk' oof a water glass being set back down on the table. Finally, the silence seemed to get to Sirius; Ginny really wouldn't have minded it herself, if only it hadn't been such an awkward silence.

"So Gin - - it's all right if I call you that, isn't it? I diddn't mean to be presumptions, er, I've just heard your brothers calling - -"

"You're fine Sirius; most people call me Gin. It, uh, it works."

The man sitting next to her smiled, and continued.

"Right then. So you're going to be a fourth-year this year, aren't you?"

Ginny nodded, and fought the urge to fidget. She wasn't used to adults not ignoring her; usually she just seemed to blend in to the walls to them. She liked Sirius's attention though; once the initial shock of learning that he wasn't a mass murder had eased up, she came to realize that the man was a really intriguing person.

"Then you're fourteen?"

She nodded again, and took a sip off of her glass off water. The dark haired man seemed to be contemplating her answer; he was studying a spot of peeling plaster near the doorway. While he was examining the wall, Ginny studied him. His hair was still very dark - - by her calculations, he was somewhere around thirty-eight - - it hung in a wild mass down his shoulders, the ends reaching near the middle of his back. His eyes were a smoky grey, made all the more striking in a face of high cheekbones and long dark lashes. He had a strong jaw, accenting a full mouth and slightly cleft chin. His robes hung on him a bit; Ginny could tell immediately that he was wearing someone else's robes. She herself had very few wizarding robes that fit her well; hers were all hand-me-downs from her brothers. It was hard to tell past the robes, but it seemed like Sirius was a bit underweight, although still fairly muscular. Tattoos peaked past thee hems off his robes; they dotted across the backs of his hands, and splayed across his chest where it gaped open at the neck. Sirius was old enough to be her father, but that didn't stop Ginny from noticing that he was an extremely handsome man.

Her eyes traveled back up to his face, and with a pang, Ginny realized that Sirius was staring at her intently. Instantly, she dropped her eyes, and felt her cheeks burn. She had been caught staring; she only hoped that her thoughts had not been written as clearly on her face as they had been in her mind. Quickly, she threw her napkin onto her plate, and began clearing the table. As she stacked dishes into the sink, she realized that Sirius had stood as well and was attempting a cleaning charm on the table. She turned, and took a towel to the table instead.

"It's fine Sirius," she said, not bothering to look up. "I can clean up in here myself."

"Oh." He hovered at the head of the table, uncertainly for a moment. Ginny finished cleaning the table, and moved to the sink to start on the dishes. She focused on the task in front of her, now angry at herself for making herself look silly. She didn't notice when Sirius sat back down at the table, and started when she finally finished banging the dishes around and turned.

"Shite, I didn't realize that you were still in here. Nearly gave me a bloody heart-attack."

Sirius looked up from the bottle he held in his hand on the table, and smiled mirthlessly at her.

"Sorry 'bout that, luv. There really isn't much to do here, you see. Some insane woman decided that her poor daughter needs to scrub this pit floor to ceiling twice daily, which is a bit unfortunate, seeing as the cleaning was the only thing what was keeping me sane."

He took a drink from the bottle of whiskey.

"Sane-ish, and least."

Ginny smiled, and sat back down at the seat she had previously occupied next to him. She looked at the bottle in front of Sirius at the table for a moment, before leaning forward and snatching the bottle out of his hand. He sat in a surprised silence, as he watched Ginny take three large swallows of the liquor. Proud of herself for not even pulling a face at the foulness of the drink, she leaned forward again - - feeling considerably warmer - - and placed it back into Sirius's still outstretched hand. He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a swallow, before capping it and setting it between them on the table.

"Does your mother know that you can drink like that?"

Ginny grinned sheepishly, and shook her head at the man.

"I have six brothers Sirius, do'ya really think that I've never drank whiskey before?"

"Obviously I shouldn't have. Then again, when I was fourteen, I wasn't exactly a stranger to the stuff either."

Ginny smiled, and looked at him. The man had a faraway look on his face, and a hunted look in his eyes. Suddenly, she wanted to know what was going on in his mind.

"Sirius?"

He looked up, vaguely startled. His thoughts seemed to have trapped him for a moment.

"Yeah?"

"What were you like wheen you were my age?"

He laughed a sudden, bark-like laugh that was free of any actual humor.

"That isn't a very interesting story, luv."

She reached for the bottle again, and gave him a sidelong look. She took another swig of the hot liquid, and handed the bottle to him. Her parents wouldn't be home again until very early the next morning. She had enough time to be herself - - her real self - - with this virtual stranger, for a few hours.

"Tell me anyway."

xxXxx

WEEKS PASSED AND Grimmauld Place became a hive of activity. Hermione was the first summer guest to arrive, Harry being the second. In addition to the new guests, Order members began flocking to their headquarters; as the summer progressed, Voldemort's attacks had become bolder, and also more frequent. Meetings had gone from being held bi-weekly to twice a week, with mandatory attendance. These meetings were of course off limits to the younger members of the household, but Ginny had managed to find a way around that particular rule.

"C'mon Sirius, please! I know that you don't agree with us being kept in the dark anymore than we do!"

"True as that may be luv, you know that your mother would have my skin if anyone caught me doing this!"

"Oh right, because suddenly you care what my mother thinks. It s'not like you've been contributing to her daughter's vaguely alcoholic tendencies all summer, or any sort of rubbish like that..."

"Well, if that isn't the biggest load of absolute shite I've ever heard! You've been the one getting herself drunk these past weeks, not me. I've just been too busy enjoying your delightful company to be in the right mind to stop you."

Ginny looked at the man across from her, before throwing her head back with an abrupt laugh.

"R-ight. Because, obviously, my powers of persuasion are too great for you too resist. Which is, of course, why we're sitting here now - - doing this; me trying to use said powers on you, while you blatantly resist."

Silence, while the ever-present bottle of Firewhiskey was opened, and they passed it between them for a moment. This had become their secrete routine over the summer, since that first night. After everyone else in the house had already gone to bed, Ginny - - who never really slept anymore, not since Tom Riddle - - would sneak down to the soundproof basement kitchen. She always found Sirius already there; she liked to believe that he was waiting for her, but really, it could have just been insomnia. Through these late-night encounters, they had become very good friends; Ginny was surprised to realize one night that she had come to care for Sirius more than anyone else. This thought had caused her, already sleepless nights, to drag on even longer.

Now she looked at the man across from her with hooded eyelids, trying to laugh with him, and not let her face betray the depth of emotion that her mind was swimming in. Sometimes, she felt like a fool; she was only fourteen, for Merlin's sake! There was no way that someone like Sirius could possible feel anything for her aside from friendly feelings; she just needed to keep her thought to herself, and her feelings close to her heart. It was already the middle of August, and she would be starting her fourth year soon. She was far too young, for Sirius Black to see her for anything more than the awkward young girl that she was.

"Hey, Gin?"

She shook her head, and looked at the man sitting in front of her. He had been talking to her, but she hadn't heard a single word that he had said. The dark haired man looked at her strangly for a moment, before running a hand along the shadow on his chin, and continuing.

"I just said that I'll do it. Give me the Extendable Ears, and I'll pocket them before tomorrow night's meeting."

Ginny, who had been taking in a gulp of the whiskey, swallowed harshly, and squealed in delight. Still squealing, she leapt forward in her seat and pulled the man across from her into a crushing hug. He froze for a moment, before returning the hug doubly. They stayed like that for a moment, before Ginny finally pulled back enough so that her face was only inches from his. Too many thoughts were racing through her mind, and she was having trouble focusing on anything other than how good he smelled, and how soft his lips looked.

"Ginny..."

"Sirius..."

"We..."

"Can't...?"

"Shouldn't..."

Another lifetime passed between them, before their lips finally met somewhere in the middle. Was Ginny the one that moved? Or did Sirius finally close the distance between them? Neither knew for certain, and neither seemed to particularly care. Time slowed down, and sped up all at once. Hands and lips crashed against bodies, and suddenly Ginny was seated on Sirius's lap. When it was finally over, and Ginny stood - - with the help of Sirius's large hands on her hips - - neither one of them could look at each other. Wordlessly, Ginny left the darkened kitchen. She made the walk up to the room that she and Hermione shared on the third floor silently; she had traveled past the old portraits and squeaky stairs so many times that avoiding the louder obstacles had become a second-nature act. As she closed the heavy door behind her, she slid down it and sat, with her knees curled against her chest. Seconds ticked by with no sounds other than Hermione's very un-ladylike snoring, and her own ragged breathing could be heard in the room. Eventually, Ginny heard the sounds of someone coming up the stairs. She quieted her breathing, strained her ears, and listened hard. Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway, before they stopped outside the door that she was leaning against. The person lingered there for a moment, before Ginny heard a sigh - - his sigh, it was defiantly Sirius outside the door - - and he left, traveling two doors down the hall to his own room, at the end. Ginny continued to listen, waiting for some sort of indication as to the man's feelings, but it was to no avail. The house - - and the room - - were silent once more, and the red haired girl finally allowed the tears that had been brimming in her eyes for the past half hour to flow. She wasn't sure what had happened between her and Sirius that night, but she knew that things between them had defiantly changed.

A/N: First chapter, done! How do we like it? There just aren't nearly enough Sirius/Ginny fics around, are there? Next chapter, past meets present.